England boss, Southgate pays emotional tribute to Ehiogu

England Coach, Gareth Southgate has issued a personal tribute to Ugo Ehiogu, who passed away on Friday morning at the age of 44.

Since the death of Ehiogu, tributes have been coming in from all quarters

After hearing the news of Ehiogu’s passing, the Three Lions manager penned the following message:

"I'm stunned and deeply saddened by Ugo's passing and clearly my initial thoughts are with his wife Gemma, his children and his family.

"I know that football will be grieving because he was so highly respected by everybody he worked with and losing him at such a young age is difficult to come to terms with.

"Most importantly, he was a gentleman and he is one of those characters that people would find it difficult to have anything bad to say about.

"I probably played more games with Ugo than anybody else in my career and, while in many ways he was a gentle giant away from football, he was a colossus on the pitch. It felt like a true partnership with Ugo because we were prepared to put our bodies on the line for each other.

"We shared highs, lows and won a couple of trophies together with Villa and Boro and it's those memories that I will always cherish when I think of Ugo.

"He was one of the most professional people I played with in terms of how he applied himself to his job and it was great to see him progressing through the coaching pathway with that thirst for learning.

"I've spoken to several of our former team-mates today and there's just a sense of disbelief that we're having these conversations.

"Ugo was a credit to football, a credit to his family and he will be missed by everybody who was lucky enough to know him."